Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-08


cessive rainfall which fell last spring
| could not be utilized last July for two or
three weeks, when it was so much
needed.
TwENTY-EoUR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
| lost on the cotton crop alone, to say moth
| ing of corn, oats, wheat, cattle and other
losses direct and indirect. And yet our
Legislature could not spare q very few
| thousand dollars to invest in geol0gi-
cal survey that might have helped to To-
cate artesian wells, which are to be our
chief reliance in averting such calamity
IN future. But l an anticipating. This
much by way of intr oduction 10 the sub
| iect of irrigation and to show its vast
Importance to this state. Irrigation has
been practiced from time immemorial,
and is to-day the chief reliance for agrI-
cultural supremacy in countries widely
divergent in products, climate and other
circumstances. Lands that would be other
wise practically Valucless are made per
manently fertile by it; countries like
ours, that though naturally fertile were
| subject to the untamed caprice Of the
! seasons, are now perfectly reliable, tame
and dOcile under this influence. The des-
erts Of Algeria are converted into fertile
!
| slopes of Spain are made so productive
that land there is worth as high as $500
per acre. Mexico is cultivated, when
cultivated ct all, chiefly by irrigation, and
then Yields two crops each season, and in
California agriculture has been nearly
revolutionized by the Introduction Of ir-
rjgatiOn, and lands there have increased
immensely in value on that account
SnD1afiDnlC tho Tnnuntpip
utilized; sometimes the broad rivers of
the plains, as on the Pc in Italy; and
then again, reservoirs are built and fed
by springs or filled in times of abundant
rains. Often again underground Teser-
voirs are tapped by artesan wells, and in
that way the rainfalls OF g season are
equalzed and spread over a longer pc
Rod by artificial means. Here in Texas
our water courses are too few and far be-
tween, and for
THE MOST PART TOO SCANTY
to afford much reliance as q source Of
water supply for irrigating purposes.
Still they could be utilized where they do
exist, and by means of dams and taps be
made TO preserve a reserve fund of water
that would be very useful in times Of dis
tress. Practical details of service and
az JllCalIOl4J AAh CIV III - liz NNSODNs q --1CdL
deal Of work, skill and expenditure, can
not be referred to here, even if l pos
sessed the time and required knowledge
of details; my purpose beng merely to
call attention to the subject in 9 general
way, leaving 20 others the task of elabO-
rating the practical details. Then another
source Of supply suggests itself il the
ARTIFICIAL lakes and Wdterholes, as praC-
Inv CTR yh-y 1n+ NJ too
them more for agriculture by means of
pipes and windmill attachments? Even
ordinary wells could be utilized for
season st least, by the action OF wind
mills st certain distances, combined with
q system of pipes and bitches. In this and
similar ways much Of the water held by
the soil not far from the surface could be
transferred again to roots and rootlets Of
the plants, where it would do most Coos,
more especially when the time to be
bridged over is not long, which is more
the case. Bat the chief de-
pendence Tor irrigation in this state, in
my opinion, lies in
ARTESIAN WELLS,
and 10 this topic more especially desire
to invite your attention this evening. The
difference between an ordinary well and
sn artesian well consists in this: The
first merely gathers the seepings OF the
soil near the surface, while the second
has to reach some subterranean water
course orvein or deposit, which is u.s.
ually confined between the strata of i'm
permeable rock. As we have already
pointed out, a considerable portion of
the rainfall is absorbed into the ground.
Some of this is retained, as by q sponge,
by the soil and ground near the surface,
and this is what feeds an ordinary well.
a still greater quantity perhaps sinks
deeper, and eventually finds its way
through cracks or rocky strata or at the
head Of sandy or gravelly layers, between
rocks, into subterranean streams and
water deposits. This is the source of
wells. The topography of the |
state of Texas is in the shape of an i'm !
mense but very gradual slope, extending |
from the Panhandle aud the Red river
TO the Gulf of Mexico. Like that of most |
other countries, it rests on o succession |
of geological stratifiCation built up grad !
ually in the course of ages, and among !
the strata under our feet some are soft !
and permeable by water, and others are |
hard rock and impermeable, that is, if not |
absolutely impermeable, practically so. |
NOW, when water gets between TWO I'M |
permeable strata, that is to say between |
two layers OF rock or even hard clay, so |
that it will not steep down further into |
its bed below, or be absorbed in the !
stratum above, it will find itself confined |
and pressed down, and will stay confined |
and compressed unless there Is an issue |
somewhere at a lower level in the shape |
of natural springs. But in the majority |
Of cases the outward flow is impeded by |
the irregularitY or concavity of the strata,
Or by engagement at the lower end, and |
so it happens that il wells are bored under |
such conditions water
WILL RISE TO THE SURFACE,
aud even IN some cases spout to a consid
cradle height by the combined influence |
Of its own pressure from q higher to
lower Level, and the pressure of the earth's
crust upon ii. There are good reasons to
think that wherever there are found sue
eession of impermeable strata under
ground sloping from higher to q lower
level, or forming a concave basin, just
there artesian water is sure to be found.
The gentle slope from northwest to south
sast, together with the comparatively level
surface, with little or no interruption
from mountain ranges or deep valleys and
canyons, renders it, in my opinion, highly
pr0hable that great deal of water is be-